Somehow I didn't picture you as the type to own a chocolate fountain. Interesting..... LOL

I have to say, I *really* like the fact that you have the TP and hygiene items up top. My first thought after having a bathroom sink leak down onto the TP stored underneath in the cabinet was I will henceforth always keep paper products higher than the floor. (I know, a pipe above your basement could still leak, but hey, we can't do EVerything!)

That said, I have an idea for the 72-hour kits. What about a bench with storage? Do you have a kitchen table? Could you substitute a bench instead of some chairs? Think Sweden/Norway - a cute storage bench with a pad on top to sit at the table or to sit and take off/put on shoes by the front door or sliding door. You could fit your kits in there and they'd be in one spot.

My other thought is if you have a hope chest, don't use it to store linens or mementos in your bedroom - use it as a bench or coffee table and put the kits in there instead. That way they are on an exit route. :-)

Your room looks almost exactly the size of ours. It actually a roughed in bathroom in our basement, so it's pretty tiny and has plumbing sticking out of the concrete floor in places. We don't have built in shelving, since it will probably eventually be converted to a bathroom. Our shelves are freestanding, so items fall off the back sometimes. My solution to the issue with all the cans, was to buy a Shelf Reliance system. It should be arriving by next Monday. YAH! I can't wait to get the cans all organized. I've been considering relocating the food storage to our furnace/water heater/utility room instead. I'm concerned about the heat given off by the appliances though.I can sure relate with your tiny storage room.:)Joyce

HermitJim--You're not just a kiddin! And keep in mind I'm feeding a family of 5, not just 2, so yours probably doesn't need to be as full :)

Becky--I would love an attached garage! That will be fantastic! And yeah, this is the first house we've had that I've had a room of any size semi dedicated to food storage.

Melonie--the kitchen bench might be doable . . . I'll have to dream about that one. Really no place to put a bench anywhere else. I've wanted one by the front door forever for mittens/hats/etc. but no place to put one (you seriously wouldn't believe the small house we have). We're all on one level, so there won't be any broken pipes leaking into that room from anywhere.And the chocolate fountain was left over from my sister's wedding--mom sent it home with me thinking I could use it for relief society or something, but I never have. :)

Joyce--Jealous of the shelf reliance you're getting--those look fantastic. I'd have to knock out some of these shelves or move my freezer to fit it in, but it would be worth it. Our furnace room doesn't get too warm. No warmer than the rest of the house, so it's as good a place as any around here. Thanks for stopping by!

Lucky you I don't even have half that much space yet. At least I'm only feeding two people not a crowd. I definately need to get more storage space though. I have stuff spread out in three different rooms.

But you have a ROOM! I have a closet! I agree though, the top photo is my "goal" room. Notice too, the lovely white walls and floor, clean and bright for those horrid post apocalyptic days! lolLove your bread, I need to get busy!

Jeannetta--yep, definitely glad for the room. And I'd love to paint it all white and cheerful, but that's probably best done BEFORE you get all your food shoved in your space! Maybe some flowers on the wall or something . . . :)

I've been meaning to send you a fancy, schmanzy, homemade thank you card. I thought it would be much nicer than a thank you email. But seeing as how it is now Friday night and I have yet to make a fancy, shmanzy, homemade thank you card, I think an email will just have to do.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciated getting your gift package in the mail. I didn't know what to expect; I certainly wasn't expecting 2 prizes! Elk jerky AND lip balm!!! Delicious elk jerky and homemade lip balm!!! A-mazing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now to my dilemma. You see, I don't know how to pay it forward. I don't really have many "homemade-making" skills. I'm not sure what I could offer to (the very few) people who read my blog. But I will keep on thinking about it because I definitely want to pay it forward- and backward. Just wait, I'll get a fancy-schmanzy card out to you yet, and maybe a little prize too.

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend and thank you for continuing to inspire me to become more self-reliant- I never miss any of your posts.

I looked at the first room and was trying to figure out where in that house you had room for a place that big and envious of all your food. As I continued reading, I realized you don't have that big room, but still envious of the food storage. I so need to get going with that...just wondering how when I procrastinate the grocery shopping at all costs until I HAVE to go and can then only afford the basics which break the bank.:) Emily

You should try getting some of those cansolidators or harvest shelves from shelfreliance.com. They make food storage so much easier and make it a breeze to rotate and organize everything. I just love them!

Your room looks great to me. I would consider one thing though. Storing significant amounts of water and food together in the floor is risky. The water jug's in the back corner where you don't look often near the pile of food that isn't yet in buckets is always the one that fails. Consider either making sure food is a couple inches off the ground or storing water elsewhere.

TOR--Very true! We actually did have sprinkler spray leak through the corner of the house into the food room our first summer and it got a bunch of boxes wet, but the food was all in cans. Nevertheless, we cleaned out the whole bottom layer of the room and dried all the cans and boxes before putting them back in on 2x4's. Still a few things right on the floor that could use lifted up, but most everything is either in a bucket or off the floor a bit now just for the possibility of water leakage either from inside or outside the house. :)

I've cleaned and rearranged in the room since this post, but I still can't get to much in there without walking on buckets. I just have more buckets now.